If the Bulls won again, it’d be wild. And all of Illinois would party way into the night and go into work hungover the next morning.
“Alright, why the smile?” Ty leaned up on the bar, his sunglasses forgotten, and in place were his usual glasses.
“Sports are just reality TV for people who like competition.”
“Sure. I agree with that.” He kept grinning at me, making my stomach get all weird from the attention. He was cute, understood writing, and definitely was flirting with me. It was flattering.
I was eighty percent positive he was flirting.
“Are you into sports?”
“Hockey,” I said, winking. He ate it up and leaned even closer to me. He smelled nice too. “Why?”
“Well, if I may. There’s a baseball game at the single A field in town. Would you like to go to one with me?”
“As…?”
“A date. As friends. Honestly, you gotta tell me what you’re thinking because I’m the worst at reading people. Words on a page? I can decipher between the lines, but humans are more complicated. Like, you’re blushing which is good. You’re smiling too. But you could be unavailable.”
“Hm. Will there be cotton candy or corndogs there?”
“Does your response depend on that answer?”
I laughed, my face warming because he was cute. I didn’t get the explosion of butterflies I had around Cal but there were flutters. “It does. I mean business.”
“Then yes.” He smiled, dimples popping on both sides. “They do have them.”
“Depending on the night, I’m in. I have to work here five nights a week to help out.”
“Sundays have day games too, you know, if you’re so excited to go and can’t wait for some time off.”
“Are you saying we go from writing group to a game together?”
He nodded. “If you want to. I think we’d have fun.”
“Okay then. It’s a date.”
His answering grin gave me more flutters but then he leaned closer. “How’s Cal doing, by the way? I get why he kicked me out, but he won’t answer my texts.”
And then the flutters stopped, and Cal’s face intruded. Damnit.
Cal was a walking puzzle, and it was foolish to entertain my secret crush on him. I would not be the person for Cal. Not with my hopeless romantic heart. Not with myflimsyfuture. Heneeded someone sturdy and supportive and confident. I could be his friend, safely, and that would have to be enough.
I sighed and pushed away the pull I always had toward him. “I think he’s alright. He settled down last night.”
“Wish he’d let someone else in. I hate that he had a panic attack and felt the need to hide from his teammate. I want to be a friend to him, you know? It’s just so damn hard.”
God, Ty was a good guy. He was the kind of person I should be trying to date, fall in love with, and have the romantic moments with. I squeezed his arm, excited about Sunday even more when the hairs on my neck tingled.
I glanced up, and Cal was there. At the bar. Staring right at me. Looking pissed.
CHAPTER
TEN
Cal
There were so many things I wanted to say to Elle, some leftover from the morning, some about the call with Charlie. But mainly, I wanted to tell her thank you for taking care of me. She’d inspired me to actually set up an online therapy appointment because one thing was clear: I couldn’t freak out every time I saw, talked to, or mentioned Lizzie. My cousin. I owed it to the four-year-old girl whose life had been turned upside down.
